City hasn't figured out how to pay share of EverBank renovations

Mayor Alvin Brown (center) talks about the improvements to the stadium as the Jacksonville Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville announced $63 million in enhancements to EverBank Field in a locker room press conference on Wednesday.

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Before the world’s biggest scoreboards light up EverBank Field, the city of Jacksonville has to figure out how it will pay its $43 million share of the $63 million renovation proposed for the football stadium.

The city has the ability to borrow enough money to pay for the work, but administrators are still determining what source of funding will repay the debt, mayoral spokesman David DeCamp said Thursday.

And after the mayor puts forward a financing plan, he still must win City Council approval during the summer budget hearings.

The Jaguars would put up $19.9 million and the city would pay $43 million for a pair of gigantic video boards at the end zone sides of the stadium, seven LED board displays around the stadium, and a fan zone with swimming pools in the north end of the stadium.

City Councilman Clay Yarborough said “at first glance” he doesn’t see how the city could consider closing libraries and cutting core services because of budget shortfalls while also committing $43 million for stadium improvements.

But most of the half dozen council members interviewed Thursday were open to the proposal, though they wanted more details about the financing plan.

“We have to stay current,” City Council President Bill Bishop said. “We have to be sure we’re competitive, not only in the NFL but in the world. This is all part of moving Jacksonville forward.”

Councilman Bill Gulliford said it surprised him Brown would join Jaguars owner Shad Khan in making Wednesday’s announcement without having the financial plan nailed down.

Gulliford said deciding how to pay for the improvements after announcing the city’s commitment to foot the bill is like “sending the fire truck after the building is burned down.”

City Councilman Matt Schellenberg said it’s “a big win for Jacksonville” that Khan would invest almost $20 million in the city-owned stadium. But he said Brown should have had the financing plan already lined up.

“I’m very concerned the mayor makes these announcements without having the backup financial information that everybody can look at and feel comfortable that it can be done,” he said.

City Council members Greg Anderson, who will head the Finance Committee during the budget hearings, and Councilman John Crescimbeni said they want to see the financing plan for the stadium improvements.

DeCamp said all options are on the table. He said the city can take on the debt for stadium work without squeezing out other construction projects.

“That’s part of the decision-making that’s going on, but we’re comfortable that regardless of what revenue stream we choose, we can finance this,” DeCamp said.

He said the stadium renovations would be part of the city’s capital improvements program, which are construction projects separate from the budget for daily operating costs of services such as the library.

One funding source could be the city’s hotel bed tax. The 6 percent tax assessed to hotel guests currently is split three ways to promote tourism, pay debt on the stadium, and do maintenance of buildings at the sports complex.

The bed tax generates about $4.7 million for maintaining the stadium, arena and baseball park. By law, the bed tax cannot be used to pay the day-to-day costs of running city government.

But if the city used the bed tax for the scoreboard and fan zone, it would siphon money from doing a long list of stadium maintenance upgrades.

The proposal also could have financial ramifications for the city’s cost of hosting the annual Florida-Georgia football game. The city’s contract requires 82,000 seats for the game, and the city meets that standard by installing temporary bleachers in the 76,000-seat stadium.

Creating the fan zone would require removing 7,000 permanent seats from the stadium to make room for the amenities. The city then would have to install the same amount of temporary seats for the Florida-Georgia game, which would cost several hundred thousand dollars.

School officials reacted favorably Thursday to the proposed renovations.

The University of Georgia is “completely confident the new additions will enhance the game-day experience,” said senior associate athletic director Claude Felton.

University of Florida Athletic Department spokesman Steve McClain said the changes would “enhance what is already one of the most exciting venues to play a college football game.”

Oh Gordy, methinks you misread my sarcasm. Dude, if I had been king there would have been no football team at all. I would have followed a path where the city's resources would have been directed to literacy, culture, clean rivers, and first tier education. We would have tried to solve the city's poverty and crime epidemics. Once you commit to a course of action it is hard to recant. This city and its vast horde of sports fanatics, chose to bow to the gods of the NFL and like a tiger perpetually chasing its tail we will do what we can to compete in a marketplace where we are always one step away from losing it to another city with deep pockets. I'm sure that certain people have prospered from the NFL coming to town but I seriously doubt Jacksonville, as a whole, has. The overwhelming amount of whining that has gone on in the comments made clearly indicate how pathetic we are. We want the team but we don't want to pay for it. Jacksonville sold its soul long ago. I'm sure a winning franchise would ease the rancor. That is the best fan experience. Perhaps it will bring a few more dollars that can benefit the city. It's funny how our city is surrounded by wealth just outside its bloated limits. Whoops! I'm digressing again.

So how many people on here complaining about pensions get one themselves? Why do these city employees get pensions anymore? Pensions are a thing of the past. It is asinine that these pensions even exists for many of the highly paid "civil servants".

To all the complaints about tax dollars - I pay 1/3 of my taxes to schools every year and yet I have no kids. I am opposed to that but it is for the greater good. The scoreboards might not be your first choice but the stadium is a money maker for Jax. The local economy is greatly impacted by the FL/GA game alone.

Libraries closing? Close them. Have an online database where people can rent books on a iPad, Kindle or some other device and cut the costs down. Have one or two libraries instead of so many that need to be maintained. The future is here and there is no reason that my tax dollars have to go to people that use computers for free or a building that needs to be maintained. We do not need so many libraries anymore. Free music rentals and free movie rentals are not something that anyone should be paying for either.

Why is it that so many of you complain about free libraries and pensions that these people are not entitled to? Anyone that gets paid more than $50,000 a year should not get a pension. Those Fireman that make $100,000 a year or state collages where salaries are high, should not get a pension. PERIOD. School teachers that make 30K a year and policeman in the same range should get a paid pension. If they advance their careers high enough then they should be cut out of a fully paid retirement.

It would be great that so many of you complaining would actually think about what you are complaining about before you even say it.

MAXX do you have any idea how many millions upon millions we bonded for the jags and stadium? For dcades WE will be paying off!
And you think the govt. can justify millions more for a scoreboard?
This city is already $2 1/2 BILLION in debt without including our pension debt and yet you think the jags deserve more of our money?
You and mayor brown need to come off your high horse and off this communitys back!